


Home Is Whenever I’m With You

by inwayovermybughead



Category: Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Buggie Break, Bughead fluff, Camping, F/M, Fluff, bughead - Freeform, summer buggie break
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 12:18:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15119249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inwayovermybughead/pseuds/inwayovermybughead
Summary: He never knew where home was. He never knew what it was. But when he looks at her, he knows.OrThe gang goes camping.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! Summer Buggie Break is among us! This is a multi-chapter camping fic for day 1, full of fluff, and little to no plot. So if that’s what you like... keep reading! I hope you enjoy! And all comments are greatly appreciated! Shoutout to @bugheadidiocy on tumblr for being an amazing beta!
> 
> P.S. I promise they get to actual camping activities, or rather “glamping” activities in the next chapters.

The cool air conditioned room was a plus. At least compared to the mile long hike they had make up to the cabin. The cabins were nice, per Lodge standard, but he would’ve been grateful for any room with indoor plumbing and a fan at that point.

At the insistence of Veronica the group had made a trip to the lake for some _glamping_ as coined by the mayor’s daughter.

There were five cabins. Reggie and Josie in one, Veronica and Archie in the next, Betty and himself to their right, followed by Cheryl and Toni, leaving Fangs, Sweet Pea and Kevin in the last cabin.

At least out of the whole ordeal he got a whole weekend with Betty to himself, save for a few mandatory group activities. In all honesty, he was surprised Alice had let Betty go. Even more so, he was surprised Betty had let herself go. After all that had happened this past school year, Betty had not left her mother’s side in months, not wanting Alice be completely alone. But Betty needed it. Hell, she deserved it after everything she had been through.

She had survived.

They had survived.

The raven haired princess had called them all to the Pembrooke yesterday, announcing that thanks to a favor she had been owed, there would be five cabins by the lake for their taking. Due to lack of planning and prior knowledge of the trip, he was hesitant to agree. However, Betty had looked so excited at the mere mention of the trip that he just couldn’t say no.

In the overwhelming rush of packing he had forgotten to bring along his prescious beanie. He wasn’t sure or to act around all these people without it. Surely he could survive one week though. 

The group had taken only two cars to split the eleven of them. Betty offered up her mini-van, he called shotgun without hesitation, and got it with no fight from anyone else. Veronica and Archie sat in the back seat, along with Kevin who he thought should later regret sitting with the very physical couple.

Reggie took his car and somehow packed, Josie, Cheryl, Toni, Sweet Pea, and Fangs into the same car. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out how that much personality could fit into such a confined space.

About thirty minutes into the trip, after the initial excitement had settled, no one could sit still. No one could go to sleep either. With their agreed meeting time of 5 AM, everyone was both grumpily tired and impossibly awake at the same time. In heir limbo Betty had tried to get the classic roadtrip games going.

“I spy with my little eye something that is black.”

“My soul.” He muttered, head leaning against the window.

“Ha ha ha, very funny. At least I’m trying here.”

With the exception of the other car, the road was completely empty. They were in the middle of nowhere at an ungodly hour. Save for a few shrubs, skid marks, and the occasional road kill, there wasn’t much going on.

“I’m, no offense Betty but maybe I Spy isn’t exactly like the hype game we need right now.” Kevin offered.

“Any other games?” He asked.

“No...not exactly.” Betty said mischievously, she reached her hand down into the side pocket of the car door before settling her hand on a CD case.

She popped the case open with one hand and inserted the disc into the player.

“I can’t believe you still own a CD.” Archie groaned.

“I thought you were the musician, Arch. What kind of musician can’t appreciate the palpability of a good ol’ fashioned disc?” 

“A young one.”

Betty scoffed, “Fine, but you can’t stop me and my jams.” She flourished her sentence with a shimmy of her shoulders.

“Oh god, I beg you to never do that again.” Kevin pleaded.

“I can’t make any promises.” 

He smirked at their antics before picking up the empty CD case.

“What’s this? ‘Roadtrip Jams’? And I though I was the weirdo.”

The first song had started after about 5 minutes of mechanical whirring.

No one noticed the music due to a rather loud and seemingly difficult game of twenty questions that Kevin and Veronica were playing. Veronica was thinking of her jewel toned Manolo Blahniks. Though he was a writer at heart, even he didn’t know one could use so many details to describe a shoe.

Once the chorus came Betty sneakily inched up the volume.

Hey now, hey now  
This is what dreams are made of  
Hey now, hey now  
This is what dreams are made of  
I've got somewhere I belong  
I've got somebody to love  
This is what dreams are made of

Betty sang along and shimmied in her seat while still maintaining impeccable driver’s safety.

At some point Veronica had joined in, but he didn’t notice. His attention was occupied by the adorable girl in the front seat.

He sat through and hour more of songs from the ‘Roadtrip Jams’ CD. Betty and Veronica, and occasionally Kevin and Archie sang along to almost all of them. The songs ranged from 90’s boy and Britney Spears to Fall Out Boy and Taylor Swift, along with all the genres in between.

He was starving. He stomached the pain, literally, because he didn’t want to interrupt Betty’s fun. She hadn’t looked so care-free since their night at the Five Seasons.

Eventually Archie piped up and asked if they could stop at the nearest McDonald’s.

They ordered enough food for the worker so to raise an eyebrow.

Back in the car, Jughead remembered he didn’t even have his beanie on. Surprisingly he didn’t miss it.

The ride back was painless. Their wake time of 5 AM caused them all to want to pass out around the same time. Thankfully Archie and Veronica had traded seats with Betty and himself, since she couldn’t drive with her eyes closed. 

In no time they had arrived at the cabins. They unloaded the van and made the long trek down the gravel path, passing the shimmering lake, to the five cabins. 

The cabins were all decked out from outside appearance alone. They were definitely “Instagram worthy”, again per Lodge standard.

Once the other car, full of their friends, arrived Veronica reminded the group of their sleeping arrangements. Everyone shuffled cabins, which was a struggle to say the least, considering gravel and wheels didn’t really mix.

Again, the air conditioning was a gift. It was a luxury compared to the nights he had spent camping in tents in the ground with Archie and Fred when he was little. He and Betty tried to make themselves at home, whatever that saying meant, he never knew

The cabin was beautiful.

Everything was rustic themed. The master bedroom held one queen bed and was fully furnished. The nightstands looked purposefully antiquated.

He had never owned anything purposefully antiquated in his life. All his belongings antiquated on their own.

 

Attached to the master bedroom was a bathroom with a jacuzzi tub and a crystal clear shower, both of which they would definitely be using later. The master bedroom also had a his-and-hers vanity that was longer than his entire body.

Also attached to the bedroom were two closets, both of which he could live in if he had to.

There was a half-bathroom near the entrance and the small foyer. The foyer led out to a cozy den, complete with a couch, a flat-screen TV, and a fire place. 

A god damn fireplace.

He could live here for months. Hell, he would live here for months if he could.

He had definitely lucked out. There was a full kitchen that opens out towards the den. Betty could bake and cook like a pro. They wouldn’t be leaving here for a while. The fully stocked fridge made sure of that.

The rustic cabin had a strange domesticity to it. He imagined a life here. A life here with Betty. He imagine them, both stay-at-home writers. Him, working on his novel. Her, writing pieces for the New York Times. They would be satisfied with each other’s company alone. In this dream, every single time he leaves he gets to come home to Betty.

Sitting on their couch.

In their home.

Home.

 

He had never quite understood what that word meant. It never was a place for him. He couldn’t seem to find it.

But sometimes he felt it.

He felt it at the Five Seasons. He felt it the many nights he spent in Betty’s bedroom. He felt it In the trailer. He felt it here.

There was something all those places had in common.

Maybe his home wasn’t a place.

Maybe it was a person.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bughead goes to the lake!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for joining me in chapter 2! I hope you enjoy! All comments are greatly appreciated! Shoutout to @bugheadidiocy on tumblr for being an amazing beta!
> 
> It’s basically *and they were soulmates!*

The crack of dawn came sooner than he wanted it to. Their first night in the cabin wasn’t exactly spent sleeping. Against his protests, Veronica had ordered everyone to meet at the docks by the crack of dawn.

He woke up to a sudden pressure on his abdomen. He lazily opened his eyes to land upon Betty, straddling his stomach.

“It’s already 8, Jug, we need to get down to the docks soon. I don’t want to be late. She urged.

“But I don’t wanna leave,” he groaned while rolling into the pillow. “this bed feels like heaven.”

And it was true. The beds were of course made with the finest downy, the finest satin, and the finest mahogany one could buy.

“Please... for me?” Betty asked with a smirk on her face.

 

She pressed her lips to the side of his mouth, then to his jaw, she moved her kisses down his neck and chest until she got to his abdomen. She looked up at him with her doe-eyes. Daring him to let her go farther. 

With one swift motion, he pulled her back to his face and kissed her gently, before standing up with her legs still crossed around him. 

In a sudden rush of passion, he pushed their joined bodies against the wall and brought his lips to hers. Starting sweetly, taking his time to explore her, then escalating into rough, bruising kisses that should have been considered cardio.

Suddenly he pulled away, bringing her feet back down to the ground. Betty leaned against the wall, catching her breath and looking up at him in confusion. 

“Sorry, Lodge’s orders. We wouldn’t want to be late, now would we?” He said with a smirk, grabbing his swim trunks from the drawer, and turning into the bathroom to change.

 

Just as he left, he saw Betty roll her eyes, before bending down to pick up her shirt that had come off at some point.

He slipped off his t-shirt and flannel pants to change into the black trunks he had packed. Against Veronica’s protests, he had refused to wear any brighter color, even on summer vacation. Since his outfit would undoubtedly be much simpler than Betty’s to change into, he waited to give her the time she needed.

He flicked the curl in front of his forehead that wouldn’t seem to stop returning. He thought about the last time he had came to a cabin with Betty.

The last trip had a rocky start and rocky finish. But he felt better about this one. This time would be different. It felt different. Gone were the feelings of walking on eggshells, the curiosity of investigating, and the persistence of an ulterior motive. Now his only problems were waking up early and wardrobe disagreements.

After what he thought had been a long enough time he came out of the polished bathroom. Betty was in the middle of changing, and it took all of his self control not to grab her and kiss her senseless. 

Once she had gotten her top on he made his presence known with a cough. Betty turned around.

“Oh, hey...almost done. I just can’t find my sunglasses.” 

She looked beautiful, clad in a dazzlingly white bikini that tied in the front, paired with matching high cut bottoms. The bright white complimented her now tan skin.

If it had been difficult to control himself before, it was even harder now. Her cleavage was accentuated in the white top and the bottoms revealed her curves that only he had seen.

Eventually, she found the pale pink, heart-shaped sunglasses she had been looking for and laid them on top of her head.

Before leaving she put on a thin crochet trimmed coverup that matched the bikini underneath. It tied in the middle of her stomach and flowed behind her as she walked through their temporary home.

On their way out of the cabin, she rummaged through her large beach bag and threw him a can of SPF 80 sunscreen.

“SPF 80?” He read aloud.

“Sun safety is always important.”

He chuckled and grabbed the keys then locked the door. They made their way down to the docks, and noticed everyone was already there.

“What was the hold up, Wednesday?” Reggie asked.

He and Betty locked eyes.

“Um, I couldn’t find my sunglasses.” Betty answered, gesturing to their place at the top of her head.

It wasn’t a complete lie. It had taken some time to find the accessory, but it wasn’t necessarily the reason they had taken so long.

Nobody asked any further questions. If Veronica could see through them, she didn’t mention it.

“Well then,” Veronica interrupted the brief silence, “welcome to the party! The burgers are on the grill, the water is warm, and the sun is burning.”

Betty dropped her heavy beach bag on one of the tables they had “reserved” by the docks. She untied the cover up she had been wearing and let it slip down her shoulders. When the material pooled at her feet, she bent down to pick it up and gently folded it to be placed back in her bag. 

She turned around to notice that everyone, including himself, was staring at her. She blushed and tucked her head down.

Toni wolf whistled, “So that’s what you’ve been hiding under those sweaters.” 

“See B, I told you that swimsuit would look amazing on you.” Veronica praised.

Of course Veronica was behind this. Although Betty looked stunning in the swimsuit, it definitely wasn’t something she already owned. 

Betty slipped off her sandals and pulled her hair from her ponytail. It tumbled out from its restraints and settled at her chest. Her hair had grown some since she had last worn it down.  
She sat down on the edge of the dock and let her feet touch the water. Nobody had gotten in yet, probably in anticipation for the couple to arrive.  
He joined her by the water, avoiding a few pieces of splintering wood.

 

Archie was managing the burgers on the grill while Reggie leaned over his shoulder micro-managing his every move.

“Leave it on longer, Andrews. We want it to be pink, not bleeding.” 

“Well something’s gonna be bleeding soon if you don’t get out of my way.”

The masculinity was lethal. 

“Okay, boys. Settle down, their just burgers and even if it’s bleeding we know Jug here will eat them anyway.” Josie stepped between them, having to hold her arms out to their chests like they were toddlers fighting over a toy.

“She’s not wrong, you know.” He added, the smell of the burgers had been taunting him. Even if they fed him the rejects, he would gratefully accept.

Betty swung her feet around in the water, tracing light patterns through the lapping waves. Although the lake wasn’t man made, the water wasn’t murky and was almost blue. 

 

Sweet Pea dove into the water first, nearly drenching them with his splash. Fangs followed in his pursuit, but not before grabbing Kevin’s hand and pulling him in along with him. The three boys seemed to have bonded in the cabin quite well over the night, considering Kevin hadn’t really known either of them too well before. Fangs and Kevin had already known each other through the musical, but Sweet Pea on the other hand was hesitant at first to bunking with such a preppy Northsider.

Once the boys had jumped in, Toni had slipped into the water too. Cheryl had protested Toni leaving her side, refusing to get into the so called “Cretin Water”.

Before he knew it, he heard Archie’s pounding footsteps creaking on the dock. Archie grabbed Betty by the waist, lifted her up and threw her in the water.

Betty splashed into the water, then resurfaced, hair matted down, and eyelashes coated like morning dew on the grass. She giggled and her eyes shone bright with excitement. Betty reached up for Jughead’s hand, he grasped it thinking she was asking him to pull her back up. With a jerk of her arm, she pulled Jughead down into the water.

He fell in and remained underwater, searching for Betty’s eggs. He saw her faint silhouette and grasped at her legs and resurfaced with her over his shoulders.

“Let me down!” She whined, hitting his back with her small fists. Her whines turned into uncontrollable giggling that echoed through both of them. 

Eventually he let go of her legs, causing her to fall back into the water. She resurfaced and swam over to him. He had moved away from the dock, where the water had been deeper. Now he stood in the shallower area, coincidentally in line with the grill. The wind wafted the smell to him.

 

Betty stood between his legs and laid her head on his chest, her wet hair tickling his skin. Without her wedged boots, she looked significantly smaller. He grabbed her hands on each side of them and raised them. She looked up at him. At the opportunity he pressed his lips to hers, breaking apart only when they heard Veronica’s voice calling them to the table.

They got out of the water using the ladder to the side of the dock, amazingly still not rusted. The patio and grill were on the right of the dock, connected by a wooden pathway, lined with other small tables.

When they reached the patio, Veronica greeted them and called out to Cheryl who hadn’t yet started making her way to them. Veronica pulled out a red checkered picnic blanket and draped it over the wooden table. Josie and Kevin helped set the table with paper plates and napkins. Bowls of watermelon, strawberries, and other various fruits were passed out to the right and left of the table, arranged buffet style (his favorite). The utensils were placed in a clear plastic cup in the middle of the table and a box of cupcakes were placed to the right.

“What are we celebrating?” Cheryl asked when she joined them.

“The beginning of a great trip.” Veronica answered as she and Betty set the plates of burgers down on the table.

He could care less what they were celebrating, all he could focus on was his water mouth and the heat coming off of the burgers, fresh from the grill.

 

He reached for one but Betty smacked his hand away. He looked at her and met her eyes. She widened them, glancing at everyone else still setting up. He sighed and pulled his hand back, she shook her head with a smile.

“What do you want to drink?” She asked getting up to go to the cooler.

“Coke.”

He picked at the bowls of chips that had been placed at some point, hoping no one would notice if a few were gone.

She returned with a Dr. Pepper and a Coca-Cola.  
She put the Dr.Pepper down and handed him the coke with a smirk and an unrecognizable glint in her eye. He cracked open the coke and took a sip. He put the coke down and felt her eyes on him. 

He looked up in question. She shrugged in dismissal and got up to help bring the condiments to the table. The preparation for their meal was taking a lot longer than expected. 

He reached for his drink again to occupy him. When he looked down to reach for it he noticed the can. It was that time of year again. The company trying to advertise the drink as a way of bonding and belonging. 

His can read, ‘Share a coke with your soulmate’. He grinned in realization. He wondered if she had grabbed the can on purpose or if fate had done it for her. He wasn’t sure which would have meant more.

If it was the former, it meant she had thought they were soulmates, or at least she thought it would be fitting to give the can to him. 

If the latter were true, it meant someone or something out there believed in them. It would confirm his belief that they could stick. That they were meant to stick. 

He usually didn’t believe in that sort of thing. Fate and destiny weren’t on his radar. Or at least he didn’t want them to be. His fate and destiny had always been his father’s. He had always thought he had nothing to look forward to but becoming his father. A force of destruction. Taking what he could from everyone then pushing them away.

But then there was Betty, who he had told over and over again that they were not their parents. That they would make their own mistakes and not repeat the past. Eventually, through helping her get through the emotions they shared —which was essentially the blind leading the blind —he started believing it too. He made some of his dad’s mistakes, but they got past it, and he wasn’t his father.  
He believed in his own destiny now, his own path. Whatever the universe wanted for him he would take, and he hoped that it wanted Betty with him.

Betty returned again with the condiments and Veronica with a plate of toppings. The feast was ready to commence. He was the first to grab a burger and the first to have it gone from his plate. 

The group was loud, carrying out many conversations at once. Some more interested in the food, some the friends, and some the fun. He was definitely the first one. 

Once all the burgers were gone, Veronica popped open he cupcake box. They were from some French New York bakery whose name he couldn’t even attempt to pronounce. They were meticulously decorated, too much so for an outdoor barbecue. Veronica passed out one to each of them. Starting a speech about how great the rest of the trip would be and proposing a toast to friendship or something of that variety.

By the time everyone had finished their cupcakes and conversations, Toni had pulled out a trash bag from somewhere in the mess of everyone’s bags and started dispose of the mess they had created. People started filing towards the bag she had placed at the end of the table to throw away their plates and empty cans.

He gathered his trash and swept away his crumbs. He threw away his plate and went to throw his can away before stopping in place. He debated disposing of it.

Would it be weird to keep it? 

The day was a good memory, and so had the moment. He decided against it. If the can meant what he wanted it to, then it wasn’t trash. Besides, he was a self-proclaimed weirdo so the basis of normality didn’t really have an effective answer.

 

It was only one by the time lunch and the evidence of it were gone. With full bellies no one dared to jump back in. The old myth about waiting thirty minutes didn’t hold them back, rather their inability to get up. Everyone had laid back in the recliner deck chairs after the meal. 

“I’m so full I can’t breathe!” Sweet Pea groaned. Everyone nodded in agreement, seemingly to lazy to even speak. 15 minutes passed and while Sweet Pea, Fangs, and Reggie had passed out in their chairs, Archie rose from his chair and proposed another dip in the lake. Veronica didn’t refuse and joined him. 

“Come on B!” Veronica cheered while walking towards the water. Reluctantly Betty got up, along with Josie, Toni, and Cheryl. Betty, with one hand on her hip, eyed him and without hesitation he got up and joined her. They started their walk down to the water.

He stopped, “Wait a second, I forgot something.” Betty nodded and continued walking with the girls while he jogged back to the pavilion. He found the reason he came back. In his hurry to get up, he had left the can he had planned to save. He quickly grabbed it and threw it into the joint beach bag he and Betty were sharing for the day. He jogged back down to the water.

“Find what you we’re looking for?” Betty questioned, relaxing on a gummy bear shaped pool float Veronica had purchased. 

“Yeah.”

Exactly what he was looking for.

A couple hours of splashing, chicken fights, and other games had passed before everyone had tired themselves out to exhaustion. In a wordless agreement their friends started to leave the lake and dry off. 

When all had gathered at the pavilion again, they said their goodbyes and made their way back to the cabins.

Their cabin, being in the middle, was the shortest distance from the lake. In good time they made it back inside, returning to the cool air conditioning. They simultaneously kicked off their shoes at the entrance and went dropped their belongings on the kitchen island past the foyer. They went their separate ways to shower and change. Betty in the master, and him in the hallway half-bathroom. 

He came out of the bathroom in is change of clothes to see Betty at the kitchen island, organizing the beach bag. She was taking out sunscreen cans and towels when she stopped. She pulled out the can he was saving and put it on the counter. She picked it up and looked it up and down. A smile stretched across her face and she turned around, sensing his presence at some point.

“Is this what I think it is?”

Now it was his turn to blush, “Depends.”

“You saved this?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, wandering around to the opposite side of the kitchen island, “Yeah?”

In a blonde blur, Betty had joined him on the other side of the island and wrapped herself around him. He embraced her just the same. 

“You’re a closet romantic aren’t you? I didn’t know you held onto things like that,” she spoke into his chest.

“I didn’t know that either until today,” he felt her smile into his chest. “Wait,” she looked up at him, “did you grab that can on purpose?”

“No, but I thought it was funny once I saw it, why?”

“No reason.”

His suspicions were confirmed. He felt happier with this outcome than the other possibility. 

 

Maybe they weren’t their parents. Maybe someone was looking out for them. Maybe the universe was looking out for them. Maybe they would stick. 

Maybe they were soulmates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Please tell me what you thought about it! ❤️


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bughead goes hiking!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for joining me in chapter 3! I hope you enjoy! This one is the longest chapter yet, the gang goes hiking and fluff ensues! Shoutout to my lovely beta @bugheadidiocy on tumblr for being amazing! All comments are greatly appreciated!

He woke up to the smell of sizzling bacon, one of his favorite foods to wake up to, second to Pop’s. The heavenly bed enveloped him in its warmth, out of instinct he stretched his arm to the other side of the bed, only to find it empty. It was early in the morning and his brain hadn’t yet connected that the bacon wasn’t cooking itself.

He cracked open his eyes to see the bright light of the sun filtering through the blinds into the room, scattering shadows across its surfaces. He squinted to peer through the uncovered part of the window facing the lake that reflected even more of the sunlight into the cabin.

Once he gathered the will to sit up, he dropped his feet onto the cold hardwood floor and let them take him to the kitchen.

Stretching as he walked into the kitchen, he saw Betty at the stove, humming some ABBA song he recognized but never bothered to learn the name of. She was wearing a pair of his boxers and a white t-shirt that wouldn’t stop falling of her shoulder. Her hair was a frizzy mess, but he didn’t think he had ever seen anything so beautiful in his life. 

The girl he loved, wearing his clothing, just woken up from a bed they shared, cooking one of his favorite things. 

She hadn’t noticed him yet —which seemed to be a reoccurring theme of this trip. He snuck up behind her, hoping she couldn’t hear the putter of his feet over the crackling pan in front of her. 

He slipped his arms around her waist, embracing her for a moment. He rested his chin on her head, she hadn’t acknowledged him yet, too busy with the task before her to take her eyes away. She transferred the copious amounts of bacon from the pan to a plate and leaned back into his chest, exhaling.

“Why are you up so early?” She asked.

“I could ask the same of you.”

“Well I was trying to surprise you with breakfast in bed, but here we are.” She said with a lazy gesture of her hand that fell back to her side.

“Did you really think the smell of bacon wouldn’t wake me up? You think so little of my talents Elizabeth.” He tutted.

“Well one of your talents is being able to sleep ‘til noon, and I was relying pretty heavily on that.”

“My body breaks the rules for food.”

She turned around in his embrace and pouted, “Well, since you ruined your surprise you can eat your breakfast at the table.”

She broke away from him and brought the meal to the table. She must have woken up hours beforehand to prepare all of it. She had made an entire plate of bacon, eggs cooked in every way, hash browns, a fluffy stack of pancakes, frencg toast, an omelette, and to wash it all down fresh squeezed orange juice —with pulp, which they had many arguments before.

This was the women of his dreams. Of course he knew this before, only Betty would wake up hours early just to surprise him with breakfast in bed, for no particular occasion. 

 

“Maybe I can eat something else in bed.” He said with a wiggle of his eyebrows, slipping his arm down to the dip of her back.

She rolled her eyes and swatted his hand away, “Shut up and eat your breakfast.”

He dug into the mountain of food in front of him.

“Besides, Ronnie said we’re going hiking today and we can’t be late like yesterday.”

“Ah, Veronica Lodge. The destroyer of sex lives.”

Betty snorted into her —pulp free— orange juice.

“If I remember correctly, Veronica’s confirmation was the reason we have a ‘sex life’ in the first place.”

“Yeah, I’ll be sure to thank her for that.”

“Well, do whatever you want, but do it quick. We have to be out of here by 11:00.”

“That’s plenty of time.”

“For all of this!” She said gesturing to the meal she had labored over.

“Do you even know me at all, Betty?”

Betty rolled her eyes and finished off her single stack of only two pancakes. She cleaned up her plate and dropped it into the mountain of dishes in the sink.

“I need to go take a shower… so meet you back out here in 15.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to join you?”

She smacked his arm again and left to wash off last night’s sweat.

.  
.  
. 

The shower was steaming hot, fogging up the mirrors quickly. She scrubbed hard at with her strawberry body wash she never traveled without.  
The burning water washed away the suds and left pink skin. She lathered her hair with another strawberry scented product, following with a matching conditioner. She took pride in her hair, the flax colored locks connecting her to her family. Her family didn’t have the best reputation, as of late. They had their problems, but she missed what they were before. She missed milkshakes at Pop’s after ballet lessons and fixing up cars. She missed lullabies and being tucked in at night. And now, she was proud of what was left of the Cooper family. 

Her and her mother were stronger now. Their bond wasn’t as strained by all the lies. And Alice Cooper, while still being controlling at times, was much more accepting of her relationship with Jug. Sometimes, she even stayed the night at Jughead’s trailer, without a slandering word from her mother. 

With all the secrets of the family aired, they were more open to each other. The way Betty had always imagined their relationship to be. So when she could, she took pride in the traits that made her, her mother’s daughter. 

She got out of the shower, skin pink from scalding hot water and a rough scrubbing down. A cleanse, to be exact. She faced herself in the mirror. Eyes trailing down her body. Prodding at her flaws. She didn’t look like all of the other girls. She didn’t look like the swimsuit models and actresses she saw on TV. The girls with small bodies, thin enough to wrap your hands around their waist. Of course, they were beautiful. She thought everyone was beautiful. But it was a little harder to believe so about herself. All of those years of ridicule, not once had she ever stood up for herself. 

But Jughead, he loved her the way she was. He never pressure her to lose weight, he never told her what to eat. Every time they made love he always reminded her how beautiful she was. Every time she would wake up in his bed, he would tell her how much he loved her and how gorgeous she looked. She ran her hands along her body and felt the curves Jughead always kissed his way down. He made her feel beautiful, and she needed to learn to beautiful without him.

Betty dried herself off with a towel and blow dried her hair, putting it in two French braids. She was trying to change up her hairstyle over the summer, the need for a ponytail—serving security blanket— gone because she was with the people she trusted most. Besides, the braids would fare well through the heat and strenuous exercise.

She tied a red bandana into her hair and threw on a pair of shorts and a tanktop. Satisfied with her look, she lathered an excessive amount of SPF on her face and headed to meet Jughead back in the kitchen.

When she found Jughead in the kitchen, the plates were bare and in the sink. All of them. She was amazed to say the least, but not surprised, because despite what he said, she knew Jughead. 

He was already dressed, and attempting to do the dishes in the sink. He was putting forth an effort to help, but Betty knew she would have to redo them later. She smiled at his attempt, and wrapped her arms around his back resting her faced on the side of his bicep, nearly mirroring the situation they were in earlier that morning. 

“Hey,” he greeted with a furrow in his brow, concentrating deeply on a pool of maple syrup on his plate.

“Are you ready to go?” She asked leaning more to meet his eyes.

“Yeah, one sec, I just want to finish these dishes.”

Betty looked at the mountain of dishes in the sink. There was no way he would be able to clean all of them fast enough, let alone clean them correctly.

“Come on, you don’t have to. I’ll do them later,” she nagged.

“No, I do. You made me that whole breakfast and you didn’t even take more than two bites of it. The least I can do is clean these dishes for you.”

Her heart melted at his determined expression, “That’s really sweet of you Jug, but I made that breakfast for you because I wanted to, and you enjoyed it. Which was all I wanted. Anyways, just consider it a thank you for last night,” she winked. She nudged his arm, trying to get him to drop the dish, “Come on, we’re going to be late if we don’t start heading down there.”

He surrendered and kissed her on her forehead, grabbing her hand to walk out the door.

.  
.  
.

It took them a grand total of 15 minutes to meet their friends at the beginning of the hiking trail. A quarter of which, was spent complaining about the relentless heat of the sun. This time they weren’t the last ones there, thanks to Betty’s efforts.

Veronica welcomed him and Betty with hugs, and Archie with a lazy nod and half-lidded eyes. Veronica could not have been more ridiculously outfitted. She wore the correct clothes, technically. But she looked so uncomfortable and out of place. She wore sneakers, shorts and a tank top, a ponytail to rival Betty’s usual hairstyle, and her pearls were missing from her ensemble. Although all the apparel looked expensive, from the way she was standing and constantly fidgeting with the material, Veronica didn’t seem comfortable in the clothing.

In quick succession, parts of the group continued to arrive, each bringing an assigned necessity . Sweet Pea and Fangs brought a small portable cooler, which he kept his eye on.

He felt the sweltering heat of the summer sun on his back as knew it was going to be a long day. They had barely started the walk up the mountain, arguably at the easiest part of their journey. The incline wasn’t too steep, the ground was even, and no one was dripping sweat —yet.

The group fell into easy conversation. Separate —but easy conversation. He had found it odd that Veronica had invited such a large group up to the cabins, especially since she was always so adamant about the ‘core 4’ and their importance to one another. Veronica barely knew Sweet Pea and Fangs, yet she had invited them to her family’s cabin? It was strange to say the least. He reasoned that she was trying to get the most out of the favor she was given. Presumably trying to fill all five cabins to the max, and if making two more people happy was a side-effect of her efforts, then maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea. But then, there was Reggie, who Veronica vehemently disliked, and was hated by most of the people invited on the trip. He figured Veronica had already thought long and hard about Reggie’s invitation to the group. She had planned all of this by herself, and with all the drama in Riverdale it was impossible to make everyone happy. The invitations must have been thought out like wedding seat arrangements. 

In an effort to keep his mind off the burning of his calf muscles he tried to work his way through Veronica’s thought process. The core four were automatically a must. Kevin came along with Betty, and was also good friends with Veronica. Cheryl was good friends with Veronica, and everyone knew what happened last time Cheryl had felt left out. Cheryl and Kevin were good friends with Josie. And along with Josie came Reggie. Cheryl dated Toni, and along with Toni came Sweet Pea and Fangs. So, obviously logic had been applied to all of this, unnecessary logic, but still it worked well enough.

Lost in thought, he didn’t notice Betty pulling him by the hand —she had been holding the entire time— over to the side of the path. 

“Jug look it’s a squirrel!” She said with childish excitement.

Indeed there was a squirrel at her feet, looking up at them with beast eyes, unmoving.

“Well yeah, we’re in the nature what’d you expect?”

She shoved his shoulder with hers, “But it’s so cute, and it’s not even running away.”

Admittedly, it was adorable. He turned around and notice the group straying further and further away from them, he started to worry,but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind, letting Betty be happy.

He watched her pull out a bag of nuts from the small string bag she brought along with her. 

“Did you bring that just to feed the squirrels?” He asked.

“No,” she answered shyly, continuing to open the bag.

She bent down to get the squirrel’s attention, and pulled a nut from the bag.

“That’s not going to work—” he started.

The squirrel was eating the nut from her palm. She looked up at him with a raised brow.

He rolled his eyes and offered her hand to get up. She took it and thanked him, dusting off her hands on her shorts.

He noticed the group, not too far ahead of them considering how long they had been. They made a slight jog over to the group. 

“I am not walking through that!” exclaimed Veronica, pointing at the mossy creek blocking the path.

The creek stretched about 7 feet in front of them and looked about 5 inches deep, it blocked the entire path. The only way to get past was to go through it or over it somehow.

“While I know you simpletons don’t hold up appearances, I do, so I’m going to have to side with Mafia Princess and vote that we head back home.” Cheryl added.

Archie, being the oudoorsman he was, begged Veronica to keep going, not wanting an opportunity for adventure. Veronica refused, not budging on her opinion. Cheryl, Veronica, Josie, and Kevin all decided to go home, for different reasons, not all of which centered around the creek. Reggie and Sweet Pea both insisted that one of them should go with them go “protection” since it was getting late out. Each of them tried to prove their manliness, resulting in the most macho “cat fight” he had ever seen. Kevin had to separate the two before they started pounding on their chest, deciding they both should come with them on the trek home.

The group split up and parted ways, leaving only Archie, Fangs, Toni, Jughead, and Betty to continue onward. 

“So I know I really wanted to keep on going but… how are we going to get past this thing?” Archie asked, scratching his head.

“We could just walk through it,” Fangs suggested as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, which it was.

Everyone agreed, and Archie embarrassingly nodded along.

“Wait… I don’t want to get my shoes wet! That’s going to be so annoying if I have to deal with that the rest of this hike.” Betty complained.

“Ok fine, I’ll carry you!” Jughead said, believing he solved the problem.

“Um… no way, you’re going to drop me!”

“No I won’t, would I ever let you get hurt?” He asked, looking her in the eyes. She looked worried, more so than he expected her to be. He thought Betty had been joking, poking fun at his strength. But when he looked deeper, he saw the sadness in her eyes, an emotion he could only recognize because he had seen it so many times. He knew she was insecure about her weight, but he had told her time and time again that she was beautiful. He had showed her time and time again that she was gorgeous. Her eyes showed the insecurity tags had that she was too afraid to say.

“Ok fine, but if you drop me, I’m suing.”

He laughed and Betty climbed up onto one of the benches on the side of the trail, to get on his back. She hopped on, piggyback style and he held onto her legs. They waded through the murky water, Betty giggling the entire time, probably enjoying their suffering.

They made it to the other side, with no damages other than shoes that squished every time they took a step.

.  
.  
.

Betty hopped gracefully off Jughead’s back and thanked him with a kiss. She had laughed the entire way, enjoying the break. At first, she had been worried that Jughead would drop her. Not for his lack of strength, but for her own insecurities. Even after the day before, where she had shown off her body in a revealing swimsuit, which took a lot of coaxing from Veronica and a pep talk in the mirror, she still didn’t feel beautiful. Looking at herself in the mirror that morning, she couldn’t help but pick apart all of her flaws. Where she wished she was curvier, where she wished she was less curvier, places she wished she were flatter, all of which she couldn’t change. She knew Jughead thought she was beautiful the way she was, but sometimes that wasn’t enough. She wasn’t unhealthy, she didn’t eat bad, she worked out at least once a day, but nothing changed. She was frustrated, and sometimes she took it out on herself. Jughead always helped her though. He helped her when he noticed she was in a rut. He helped her when he noticed her fingers curling in, when he saw her looking in the mirror unsatisfied, and he helped her feel beautiful with his words and his actions. But still, she couldn’t feel beautiful on her own. That was the problem. 

They were already more than halfway up the mountain, she could see the peak from where she was standing. Toni and Fangs had bravely taken off their shoes to cross the creek, and had put them back on afterward. Archie and Jughead however, were soaked and squeezed the water out of their socks and shoes. Betty could tell they regretted their decision, but wouldn’t admit it. They both had too much pride for their own good.

“Bet you wish you went back with Veronica now, huh?” asked Toni

“No,” Jughead said while shaking the water out of his shoe.

“Sure,” Betty said sarcastically. Jughead visibly cringed as he took his first step in his saturated shoe.

“Well if I went back, how would you have gotten across?” he said into the back of her neck before kissing her under her jaw.

Betty shivered and blushed under his touch, before shaking her head and continuing on to catch up with Archie and Fangs.

.  
.  
.

He couldn’t feel his feet. Thanks to his brilliant decision to cross the creek with his shoes on, his socks got soaked, and the cool evening air did little to dry them. 

 

He felt Betty hand squeeze his, which he didn’t realize he had been holding. He looked up at her, and saw a relieved smile on her face as she pointed in front of her. He couldn’t focus on what was ahead of them, only on the moonlight shining on her face. The silhouette of her face stood out from the darkness around them. Her eyes gleamed in the light, he always called her Brighteyes which was seemingly fitting now. 

He finally followed her gaze and saw the sign only two feet in front of them.

Congratulations you have reached Flechazo Peak

He heard sighs of relief erupt from the group, as if they had just been told there would be a curve on the test. He looked around, Flechazo Peak was the highest point in Riverdale, from here you could see everything. He saw the cabins, the lake, and the forest that surrounded them. The trees looked like clouds, the nightly fog that always came in Riverdale settled on top of the ground so far below them. Betty snuggled under his arm for warmth.

“What’s ‘Flechazo’?” asked Archie, the most alert of everyone.

“It’s Spanish,” answered Fangs, sighing as he sat down on one of the benches.

Toni nudged Fangs, prompting him to scoot over and make more room for her on the bench, “For what?” 

“Oh, there’s not really an English word for it, but it’s like the feeling that you’ve been struck by Cupid’s arrow, you know?”

He understood what that meant, he knew he had felt it. It seemed weird, that there wasn’t really a word like that in English. Just the word love and other nonsense, but not one that described the feeling of being in love. Well, at least the feeling he knows. As a writer, he was almost disappointed, he knew the feeling of needing a word that meant exactly what he was trying to say, and knowing the word, but only having it on the top of your tongue. But it was different, because there truly wasn’t a word for it, at least in English. Jughead looked to his side, and saw Betty who was almost half asleep. She looked so tired, he didn’t want to disturb her.

Toni got up, “Ok, enough resting, we reached the top, but that was only half of it. Now we have to make it all the way back down, so get off your lazy butts, ‘cause I want to go to sleep!”

“Sir, yes sir!” Said Fangs getting up urgently and fake saluting.

Toni rolled her eyes, and Archie and Fangs started getting prepared to start walking again.

Betty had woken up at Toni’s loud speech, and yawned. She stretched, and looked up at him.

“I’m so tired,” she pouted.

“I know Betts, but we’re going down now, so that should be easier right?”

“Can you carry me?” she asked sleepily, her lower lip pouting out. She lifted her arms up, as if to grab onto his neck.

He couldn’t resist her when she looked at him like that.

“Okay.”

She climbed on and rested her head on his shoulder. 

He felt her breathing slow, her chest rising and falling against his back steadily. She was asleep.

“Hey Betts,”

No response.

“I love you.”

He felt her lips move against his neck in a whisper.

“Love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave me a comment and tell me what you thought of it ❤️


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The core 4 play Clue!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for joining me in chapter 4! This chapter is the shortest one yet, the core 4 play Clue and things get pretty competitive. While this fic is for summer buggie break, I may be releasing some more chapters to finish up this fic after the prompt is over. Maybe just one more chapter that wraps things up more? Idk. I’m a little bit less confident in this chapter than the others, it didn’t feel right to me...? Also, if you couldn’t tell, I love ABBA and Mamma Mia, and have been sort of obsessed as of late, which is why they are so prevalent in this fic. Anyways, I hope you enjoy! And thanks so much to my beta @bugheadidiocy on tumblr for being the best! All comments are greatly appreciated!

“I win.”

He rolled his eyes, for the third time in a row Betty had won Clue. He had suggested they play the game, initially thinking he would have the upper hand, as he was half of the infamous detective duo.

He, Betty, Veronica, and Archie were all seated around the table in his and Betty’s cabin. Veronica had demanded the “core four” have some “bonding time”. Even in his brain, the words had quotation marks. 

Mamma Mia played in the background, a suggestion from Betty that was reinforced by Veronica screaming and singing until the movie started. He hadn’t been watching the movie much, he was too focused on trying to beat Betty, at least once. On the other hand, Veronica and Archie were engrossed in the musical, and were therefore losing drastically.

“Okay, set it up again.” Veronica said with a wave of her finger.

“Are you sure you guys still want to play, ‘cause you know I’m going to destroy you, right?” Betty said haughtily with a smirk on her face.

“Whatever Betts, I’m going to win so fast you won’t even see it coming,” He announced determinedly.

“Oh yeah? Want to bet on it?” Betty challenged.

“Ok, if I win,” he started, looking around trying to imagine a fitting punishment, “you have to do everything I say for the rest of this trip!”

“Ok, what about when I win?”

“Vice versa.”

“It’s on Jones!” Betty said extending her hand.  
He took her hand and shook it, locking eyes with a grin on his face.

Betty shuffled the cards and set up the game.

“I’ll go first!” Veronica announced, grasping at any attempt at a lead. She shook the dice in her hand and dramatically kissed her knuckles before releasing them.

“Ok… so I suggest it was Mr.Green in the kitchen with the candlestick.” Veronica said proudly.

Archie showed her his card, disproving her theory, not fully paying attention to the game. He was too focused on Meryl Streep’s rendition of ‘Winner Takes It All’, and probably practicing his own version in his head.

Betty snatched up the dice and rolled. She moved her piece into the dining room.

“I suggest it was Ms. Scarlet in the dining room with the dagger,” she looked expectantly at Veronica, waiting for her to slide a card over.

“Nope, I got nothing! Archie?” Veronica said, passing the torch.

Archie shook his head dismissively. 

Jughead watched a grin grow on Betty’s face. “Yeah, I got nothing either,” he said feigning disappointment. The triumphant grin on Betty’s face grew larger. “nothing but this card!” He exclaimed slamming the ‘Ms. Scarlet’ card down on Betty’s half of the table.

He had to admit, sometimes he got a little too competitive in bored games. Hell, nobody could forget the last time they played Risk together. He and Betty didn’t say one word to each other for the rest of the day because she invaded Indonesia.

But in his defense, Betty got a little competitive too. And she was the biggest sore winner. Even though he loved her, in that moment nothing made him happier that crushing her hopes.

Betty looked at him with narrowed eyes and marked off the card on her sheet, he shrugged and slid the dice over to his side of the table.

“I suggest it was Professor Plum with the rope in the ballroom.”

Betty showed him the ‘ballroom’ card. He crossed it off his list. He had the weapon narrowed down to the lead pipe, and the room narrowed down to the dining room. Now all he had to figure out was the person.

Archie played his turn, followed by Veronica, both of whom accomplished little to nothing in their pursuit.

Betty rolled the dice and got a twelve, she proceeded to move into the dining room. He clenched his jaw and crossed his arms, she was on the right track. Betty paused and looked him up and down. She grinned to herself and continued to move her piece, settling in the dining room.

Through all the years Betty had known Jughead, he had never been a good liar. She had learned all his tells, and he never had a good poker face in the first place. 

Betty cleared her throat to capture the attention of her friends, trying to draw out her triumph.

“I accuse Mr. Green of the murder, in the dining room, with the lead pipe!”

“What! But how— I— already?”Jughead stammered. Betty shrugged nonchalantly and checked the cards inside the envelope.

“Aha! I was right,” she stuck her tongue out at Jughead.

“You cheated!” Jughead accused, “You shuffled the cards!”

“Whatever, I won fair and square… peasant. Now, I order you to bring me my Mountain Dew,” she ordered.

Jughead didn’t move.

“I’m waiting!” Betty sung, holding her hand out expectantly.

Jughead sighed, grabbed her glass on the counter, and placed it in her hand.

“Thank you, Forsythe,” Betty addressed while sipping the drink.

Veronica laughed at their antics. Whenever Betty and Jughead competed with each other, they acted like children. Both of them had too much pride to function.

They sat in silence for a while, immersed in the movie. Once it ended with the last big musical number, Archie fell asleep. 

Veronica shook him by the shoulder, “Come on Archiekins, wake up! This isn’t our cabin.”

Archie cracked one eye open, “Huh— what?”

Veronica grabbed his hand and dragged him out the door, saying her goodbyes as she went.

 

Betty was laying back against Jughead’s chest, and he had his arm wrapped around her. She turned around to face him, “Jughead,” she started sweetly— making him forget about their bet, “ I ordered you to carry me to the bedroom!”

Jughead pushed himself off the couch and in one swift motion grabbed Betty and threw her over his shoulder. 

Betty giggled and pounded on his back with tiny fists, “Hey let me down!”

“You never said how you wanted me to carry you to the bedroom.”

He could almost feel Betty rolling her eyes. He got to the bedroom and dropped her on the bed.

Betty buried her face in a pillow facing away from him.

“I order you to hold me.”

He grabbed the comforter and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned back into him, nestling her body into the crevices of his and felt the steady beat of his heart against her chest. 

He brushed her hair behind her ear, and felt the rise and fall of her chest against his. He held her like this, until he felt her breathing slow into steady, rhythmic beats.

He would hold her any day, for as long as she would let him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so so much for reading! Pretty please (with a cherry on top) tell me what you thought of it! This might be one of the last chapters for a while, because I might start working on other buggie break prompts, y’know? Thank you so much again for joining me on this fluffy journey!!! ❤️

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please tell me what you thought of it! ❤️


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